News and Events
Small Formats, Big Opportunities
Urban growth and other factors cause retailers to rethink store size.
Feb 1, 2011 Chain Store Age Debra Hazel
A 3,500-sq.-ft. Walmart? Sounds hard to believe, but the world’s largest retailer broke new ground in January when it opened “Walmart on Campus” on the grounds of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The store, open to students and non-students alike, reflects the sea change that has occurred at Walmart Stores and throughout the industry during the past couple of years as retailers across the board show increased flexibility and a willingness to rethink formats and footprints—most often, by thinking smaller.
“Smart retailers are finding ways to shrink their footprints—without compromising core offerings—to leverage a myriad of real estate opportunities that will only accommodate smaller formats,” said Spence Mehl, senior VP with New York City-based real estate advisory firm RCS Real Estate Advisors. “We are seeing not only a host of urban real estate opportunities, which are very attractive for growing retailers, but also spaces outside core urban areas at historically low base rents. Those retailers that can control their inventories and shrink their footprints will likely prosper in the years to come.”